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Any one else see The Compass Rose ukulele featured on Shark Tank tonight? Played by Ingrid Michaelson. A Koaloha was on too. Well done Rick and Okami family.

It's been about a year in the works, off and on, a lot of help from my friends, and even more design as I go, and finally got this strung up last night. No wonder 8 strings are popular, these are cool! It still needs a little action tweak, but I'll let the strings, and everything else settle a...

Just got a package via Royal Mail from Ken. It was the fret wire tang removal jig Ken made and offered up for the cost of shipping. Thank you SO much, Ken. This is quite the set up. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but do have one bound fret board to put some wire in soon. Can't wait to use...

Chuck Erikson posted an update of recent developments regarding the Lacey Act over on another forum. You can read it here... http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=35405 Steve

Thanks for the tip, Eric. When I talked to Mac at Cardinal, he said to be sure to use their precat sealer, then the UV filler and spray the lacquer right on top. I've always used shellac as a bond coat under nitro, so thanks, I will continue to do so. I've had a chance to finish another couple...

A couple months ago I decided to give the UV finish thing a try. I was pretty impressed with the finishes Mike DaSilva and Joe Souza are getting with the stuff. Plus it's plenty hard and tough. And goes on thin. The topper was that, being pretty new to this craft, I wanted to be able to string...

What is a playable string spacing on an eight string uke. Search turned up 2mm for the C course on a six string. Is that between, or centered? Is that enough for the octaved G's? An idea of nut width and string spacing at the bridge would be a huge help, too. thanks, Steve

Just back from the Healdsburg Guitar Festival and am happy to report a stronger than expected showing of ukuleles there. There is a post in uke talk about Michi Matsuda's truly original take on an uke...that instrument was WAY cool. A few other guitar builders had an uke or two, including Ken...

I prefer the 12 hole bridge.

12 hole bridge Been building with a 12 hole bridge for the last year or so. Gotta say, I like it.

All I did to modify the circle jig is to drill and countersink 2 holes a little closer to the pin. It works a treat down to about 2-1/8". I think it could be done to make even smaller sound holes. I can use a 1/32 to 1/8" bit and adjust to cut any size channel. Steve

Thanks Chuck, for starting a great thread. Would you mind sharing what you're going for between the 3 and 5 fan top? Now, I don't have hundreds under my belt like some folks here, and the experimenting is likely to continue. The last half dozen or so have all been pretty close to this pic...

Sorry Tarhead, no offense intended. Indeed, at least in my experience, your method is how I would handle it. I just haven't figured out how it do it without showing. Except by taking down all, or nearly all of the surface in question. It's just that when I lay down a glossy uke in the shop and...

Norton 3X 80 grit spray glued to dish after a couple coats of shellac. I throw a piece of leather on top when I want to use it as a work board.

Gerry, The corners get pointed with a tiny chisel. As far as the rest of it, it was a lot of trial and error, and a lot of practice on scrap. Not to mention a few ruined tops. I don't have a link to point you to, I just saw a guitar with the segmented rosettes and thought it looked cool then...

Thank you all for the nice comments! And yes, Tattwo, you need to get some koa. Bluesuke, I got the one with sapwood from Steve at curlykoa.com, the other two I got from Dustin in Hilo. Drumgerry, post #11 in this...

Started these in July and August. Took about a month apiece, not including dry time. Two of them have Misi Trios installed. I'm still a long way from understanding what makes these things tick, but the adjustments from uke to uke are getting smaller. They're fun to play and I find myself...

Here's a pic of my donut. I made out of UHMW plastic with a hole saw. Also John at Blues Creek guitars sells them for $15.

I've got some old brass fret wire. It's smaller than it looks in the pic. If it looks like something you can use pm me and I'll send you a piece. Steve

I've seen curly koa labled all kinds of different things, compression, fiddle, crush, etc., but this is a new one on me.:D HAWAIIAN KOA M98 39.5 x 6.5 x 2.25 Compassion curled. Quartersawn. Great dark orange, red, gold tones. Great for one project. Enjoy!!! Buyer to pay actual shipping cost...